The book is closely connected with other great inventions of antiquity - writing, paper, ink. How the first books appeared and what they were - more on this later.
Definition and origin of the word
A book in the modern sense of the word is a special type of product consisting of separate pages or sheets onto which any information is printed in a typographic or manuscript way.
In the Proto-Slavic language it was called "kaniga". Presumably, this word was borrowed from the ancient Turkic languages. It meant a scroll.
When did the first book appear? The answer to this question requires consideration of the conditions without which it could not arise. First of all, it is a material for creating records (paper) and a means for storing information (writing). Only after their appearance did the story of the book begin.
Writing
The book contains some information. To write it, you need the following conditions: possession of writing and material for writing. In ancient times, man used the oral transmission of knowledge. When there were few, this method was suitable. But with the accumulation of information, it was necessary to look for a new means for its transmission and storage. So man invented writing. Now everything that people knew about the world around them could be written down, thus preserving invaluable knowledge for future generations.
How did the book appear ? This is one of the most interesting questions in the history of human development. It is difficult to answer it, since the main condition for the appearance of books - writing, originated almost at the same time in Ancient Mesopotamia and Egypt. However, scientists give the palm of primacy in this matter to the Sumerians, believing that it was Mesopotamia (Mesopotamia) that became the first country where writing appeared.
What did they write in antiquity?
How did the book appear? A large role in this was played by the material for the letter. Each civilization, having discovered its own way of recording information, began to use various things to preserve knowledge: plant stems, leaves, clay tablets, tree bark, metal.
Plates are the oldest writing material. They were of two types: wax and clay. The latter were usually fired for strength, and after that it was already impossible to make changes to the text. Wax plates allowed to erase the inscription and apply a new one. They were used in ancient Mesopotamia and Rome.
Scrolls made from stems of papyrus were first used by the ancient Egyptians. Then the Phoenicians began to use this type of paper for writing and later introduced the Greeks to it. For a long time, scrolls were used as rather convenient material for recordings. Because of its fragility, the papyrus could not be bent, but it could be folded into long strips that were conveniently stored on shelves. In addition, papyrus ink was easily washed off and could be reused.
When the first book appeared - what does science say?
The inscription made in ancient times on stones, rocks, animal bones cannot be called a book. These were separate statements, not texts. But according to information obtained during archaeological research, the appearance of the first books dates back to ancient times. Outwardly, they were very different from their modern counterparts.
The first books appeared in the III millennium BC. e. in ancient Mesopotamia. The burnt clay tablets were stacked in wooden boxes, each of which represented a separate “book”. In ancient Rome, 2-4 tablets were fastened together, and a code (book) of several "sheets" was obtained.
How did the first books appear in the Middle Ages?
For a long time, papyrus scrolls were very common. But they were short-lived, and the papyrus itself in Egypt became an increasingly rare plant. With the advent of Christianity, sacred texts needed more solid and easy-to-use material. It was parchment made from animal skin. Most often, skins of goats, sheep and calves were used for its production. Parchment could be bent without fear of damage. Over time, books began to be made of it.
The first books of the Middle Ages almost did not differ from modern ones in form. They consisted of many pages and had a cover. Such books were very expensive. The production of one took up to 500 animal skins and 2-3 years of work of scribes and artists. Often they were decorated with an expensive salary of gold and precious stones.
How did the book appear in Russia? As for our country, it has its own history of the appearance of the first manuscripts and texts. The traditional material for writing in the XI-XV centuries was birch bark. For the first time they were found in large numbers in Veliky Novgorod at the beginning of the 20th century.
Birch bark was unstable cheap material and was used mainly for private correspondence. More important documents were written on parchment.
Typography - a new page in the history of the book
Manuscripts were expensive, and only very wealthy people could afford the luxury of owning their houses. In the Middle Ages, literate people were negligible. These were mainly monks, scholars, and government officials (scribes).
In the VIII century, the first universities appeared in Europe. States needed a large number of educated people. But students could not afford to buy expensive tomes. Most often, the book was available only to the professor who gave the lecture, and the students had to memorize it.
By that time, woodcut was already used in China and the East - an imprint on the fabric. But this method was not cheap, since the fabric itself was expensive.
In Europe, with the advent of paper at the beginning of the 15th century, typography was invented using typesetting. It is traditionally believed that Johann Guttenberg was the first to discover this way of producing books. In fact, typesetting has already been used before in various European countries. Guttenberg's ingenious invention was to create a printing press.
When printed books appeared, it became possible to disseminate knowledge not only among the privileged class: the nobility, clergy and representatives of science. Gradually, books created using the machine became available to the rest of the population.
When did the first printed book appear in Russia? This momentous event occurred in 1564. Prior to this, undoubtedly, similar volumes were already penetrating into the country, created not by scribes, but by machine. Such books were no longer news in Russia at the time of the creation of its first printing house.
The first printed book in Russia was The Apostle, a true masterpiece created by Ivan Fedorov and Peter Mstislavets.
Afterword
The question of how the book appeared will always be relevant, and more than one child will ask him at school or at home. Books that carry knowledge change over time. Now they can be listened to or read electronically, but they still remain with us.